I'm near there in a couple of weeks, and have been wondering about the trails and what they are like. I'm staying near Cadair Idris. I have ridden the Coed Y Brenin trails when they were original, and would like to try something similar, but have heard that they are not up to the previous standard. (a bit sanitised)

I have ridden most Wales trail centers, except Machynlleth. I would like some good flowing LONG technical singletrack, that has not been sanitised by the bike motorway elves, and dont mind some long climbs to get this.

I'm up for purpose built or natural trail, but dont want to be getting maps out all the time.

tell me where to ride please.

thanks muchly.

Take a trip to the tourist info. We rode a natural trail called Mac3 a few weeks ago and really impressed. Not sure about man-made trails though, but there is the Climax trail? Stupid name I agree!

Have you tried Nant yr Arian?

That may fit the bill.

ok, ta for that Daisy_duke.

Anyone ridden the Climax (agreed… stupid name)

Climax is not what you're after.

Short, great fun, some good rocky bits, but very man-made.

nope.. not ridden Nat-y-Arian. I might check it out. Thanks chakaping.

lardman – the climax is short but very good. I ride it every year and each year the long final descent gets more cut up. you could always ride it twice

chakaping – Member
Climax is not what you're after.

because it has almost no good flowing LONG technical singletrack, does it?

Oh yes, apart from one of the best long, flowing, technical DH sections of any trail centre in Wales…..!

Go, ride it, it's great fun. You can even climb back up to the radio mast and run the last DH section again, which is nice.

Climachx – standard welsh trail centre fayre, some fire road climbing some nice singletrack (red rated), a great final descent (black rated). Great fun, especially if you only have a short time spare

The Holey Trail in Mach is a great shop, chat to them about the trails. They said that Mach 1, 2 & 3 are more natural, but i didnt have chance to try them.

The climax downhill is OK but the rest of the trail is a real let down!

when i ride there it is always a good fun ride. I have only ever riden the climax trail, which is great fun, but you finish too soon. Last decent is supurb

Climachx is fun. Of the others I've only done Mach 2 and was a bit underwhelmed really- lots of riding through fields, opening gates, and road bits. That said a ride is a ride and it's in a nice part of the country, so you could do worse!

nobtwidler – Member
The climax downhill is OK but the rest of the trail is a real let down!

i don't understand what's a letdown about the rest of the trail – ride it fast and its all good fun

its a free to ride trail mainly built by local volunteers, in a lovely part of the world with loads of natural riding in the same area and two more trail centers a short drive away, and as has been mentioned above you can re-ride the last descent until your legs fall off

what's not to like

Hi there,

I visit regularly and the the Mach trails are good, unless the weathers's bad in which case they can be a bit of a slog… Each of the three is a bit longer and more thechnical than the last, Mach3 being the daddy.

They're one way so there shouldn't be anyone hacking down something you're climbing.

Map;
http://www.dyfimountainbiking.org.uk/machroutes.html

Soobalias is spot on about the Holey Trail, they're really helpful and can suggest other local trails.

I did the Mach 2 and Mach 3 several years ago and they are good fun though very different to the Climachx trail. If i remember rightly they are really waymarked natural trails of varying length and have a mix of small roads, double track, fire roads, woodsy singletrack and technical rocky stuff (at the top of the Mach 3).

I really liked them but then i'm a bit 'old school' as i know that others have said they find them boring. Each to their own i guess!

The first 2/3 of the Cli-machx is very man-made and rides a bit like singletrack BMX track. The last section is harder, rockier, steeper and faster and you will be too busy having fun to worry about whether it's "natural" or "artificial".

I'd agree with the bloke who suggested Nant Y Arian though. If you do the long route, the middle section is basically all natural trail and it's a fair distance too.

I have ridden the Coed Y Brenin trails when they were original, and would like to try something similar, but have heard that they are not up to the previous standard. (a bit sanitised)

Here's a crazy idea, go and ride Coed y Brenin and find out for yourself.
It's really not that bad.

Captain – Read the OP.

Just returned from holiday in that area, staying nr Dolgellau.

Went down to the climachx trail. It is a well marked circuit tho there are a lot of other paths that look intriguing if you have more time. I was with my wife so it was a very leisurely circuit- enjoying fantastic views. As above the majority of the trail is very smooth and swoopy without any great technical challenge. The final descent is superb – maybe made more so by the contrast to the red sections – and excellent fun. Very quiet – only a couple of other people around whilst we were there. There is also a more free ride/DH section to play on.

I could cycle across bridlways to get to return fireroad section at the top of Coed y Brenin. After the talk about sanitised trails on here I was pleasantly entertained. I was there about 5 years ago and was hugely disappointed then after all the hype. I presume the talk of sanitised means removal of natural features – I recall a wonderful rooty section on the MBR. I took santised to mean unchallenging and took a none MTB friend who fell off on the first rock causeway as you head out from the visitor centre. If you go knowing to expect built trails linked by fire road then it is worth a visit IMO. MBR was good fun.

Based on recommendations on here we also did the Pont Scethin loop from Tal y Bont – which was a big ride for my wife (hikey bike climbs) but absolutely fantastic and not too difficult to navigate around – tho you will need a map to check in one or two bits.

The negative press about CyB seems to be the result of one or two very vocal posters on here who reckon it's H&S gone mad, etc. Some of the new sections are a bit meh, and the visitor's centre is a bit charmless (albeit much more able to cater to the user numbers), but it's not been systematically ruined or anything.

2nd the charmless cafe at CyB – made the mistake of going there for lunch – if you are in the Dolgellau area go to Parliament Cafe – superb relaxed atmosphere and big settees to chill, with internet and wifi access and lots of books – including a copy of Bikefax 🙂

No facilities at climachx tho – unless you start from Machynleth

Climachx is an awesome trail! But I know plenty that rode it with me that didn't enjoy it, apart from the descent at the end. I think if you're fit and into climbing then you'll really enjoy it, it's a very fun climb, but if you're plodding it would grate a fair bit I expect.

The descent is brilliant, apart from that cheeky corner that is far tighter than sensible bearing in mind the speed you can carry into it. Or maybe I should have been paying more attention on my first run??

Nant yr Arian's trails are great and contain some wonderful flowing singletrack descents which are of a decent length. However I don't think it's particularly technical.

Coed y brenin's great, dont let some people put you off. People always go on about how "the trails used to be much better" but there are some absolutely mint rocky sections (especially on the tawr) and if theyve been sanitised then they must have been pretty fookin mental to start with! I have ridden there alot over the last year and enjoy it immensely every time.

thanks for al the posts people..

I'll give the CYB another try if i have time to get there too! As long as it's not like the truly dull gravel track of Llandegla. I used to have to be careful when riding the trails at CYB, as they were challenging enough for me to have to use the brakes a bit. Llandegla is NOT the kind of trail that i find fun, or challenging.

I have such limited time that i always try to ride somewhere different if i can.

Looks like i'll try the Climachx as i do fancy session-ing the last descent a few times.

I'll also try out Nant yr Arian as this sounds like a bit different.

thanks for all the pointers.

There's bits of Coed Y Brenin that are a little like Llandegla, but there is some pretty techy bits as well – the MBR was quite challenging in places I thought.

i have just got back from a 2 day stint in wales. My son and i did penmachno, chlimax and the trail with the horns at cyb. We ended up doing chlimax twice i really enjoyed that, penmachno was good also we did both loops, the cyb route was crap i have done the beast there but the one we did this time had far too much fireroad. Going back in a few days to do nant yr arian so looking forward too that.

Nahhhhhhhhhh!! I thought the tarw was pretty damn good! what about snap, crackle and pop?!

Take the bridleway up Cadair Idris from the SW. You can do an up and back from Gwastadfryn, prolonged 1st gear torture going up and a real hoot coming down. Or you can make a ride from the Delgellau side that could include the Mawddach trail, the NCN NR8 link, and a quiet road link in the Dysynni valley…it doesn't work as a complete loop without using the footpath bit of the Pony Path, and last time I was there it was a carry anyway – steep stone stairs. A little bit of map reading needed.

snap crackle and pop was good but didnt you hate the fact that after some of the fireroad climbs that there was then lots of downhill on fireroads. I also thought the heart of darkness section was good but i just found the trail as a whole was boring and repetitive.

massochists use Mach 3 to link Climachx and Nant-yr-Arian together

Nant-yr-Arian has a good flow

Ringo, youre right about the fireroad downhill bit. As for linking Nant and Mach, i think i might be giving that a go at some point this year 😀

Having just returned from 2 weeks riding in Wales I would say this. The Beast at CyB is long and technical enough. Sure some bits are more motorway than they used to be but other bits have evolved nicely. I rode it twice as i enjoyed it that much. Climachx is enjoyable but it is really all about the last 2km. I linked it to the Mach3 which is nice in an out there gate fest kind of way but the rocky chute makes it all worth while. The Marin trail has some sweet singletrack if you hit it fast but I don't recall any of it being long. Fireroad and road descents annoyed me a bit though. I did it the same day as Penmachno which I think you would enjoy but it has nothing really what I would call technical although the random drops around the trail keep you on your toes. The Syfindrin trail at NyA has some great descents if you just stay in your landy rut and pin it. It was very wet though. Have to say I prefer the Beast. I would say do Mach3. If you want more tech do NyA Syfindrin. More tech? Do the Beast. More? Session Cadair Idris. It's a great ride, I loved it.